Geography Games
Oct. 10th, 2010 05:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaFor the past couple days I have been obsessed with Geography games. I’ve been mainly playing Map Quest and How Well Do You Know Your World.
• Map Quest gives a short amount of time to label as many world countries as possible. Thus far my best is down to 90 countries left to label. I really like this game but sometimes I mess up spelling and I lose a lot of time that way. It probably helps my typing though. Other problems include how small the map is and so when I label enough countries in an area I end up unable to see what I’ve already written. It could be improved is what I’m saying.
• Know Your World is a question game where you are given a location (say, Paris France) and you have to plant a flag there (by clicking a place on the map with your mouse). There’s a timer so you don’t have too long to think and it asks about capitals, other cities and important monuments. I like how it calculates the distance between your flag and where it really is to get your score. The closest I’ve gotten is 14 km. The negative about this game is that the map is so small and there is no easy way to increase the size so that some countries aren’t even visible (like Israel or Qatar, not visible on the map) and you end up having to pick basically just the general area they should be and hope for the best. Despite that this is a pretty fun game. So far my best is level 11 (score to advance 550000), with an IQ of 122 and a final score of 478, 584.
• I found a Map Label Game here where you are given an area and set number of minutes to label as much as you can. It’s actually a nice break after playing against the clock in Map Quest.
- I started off with Africa and ended up with 27/53 which sounds pretty bad but which I’m actually a little pleased about. I did better than I was expecting. In straight out labelling I got some unexpected ones – Seychelles, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Tanzania... I actually figured out how to spell Zimbabwe and Mauritania! Of course I also missed Tunisia which I had to place on a different map game not five minutes before so that’s kind of embarrassing. I forgot about Togo and Senegal which I’ve been placing on Map Quest for awhile now. There were a couple others I feel like I should have gotten (Ghana, CAR, Liberia) but also some that I never would have gotten (Djibouti, Eritrea, Sao Tome and Principe, Guinea-Bissau, Comoros, Mauritius). This was just having to know the names of the countries and if I’d have had to actually place the names/pick the right country my score would have been so much worse.
- Then I did South America. This one I was feeling confident about because I’ve really been working on South and Central America. In the end I had reason to feel confident because I had 4:15 left on a five minute clock after writing all 12 countries down. And I didn’t mess up on the spelling on any of them. I was surprised that French Guiana wasn’t included as needing to be labelled even though it’s a part of France. It’s a country on the continent regardless. Oh, well. I know it anyway. I’m very pleased with this result.
- Next up was North America, Central America and the Caribbean which were all included on the same map and given ten minutes. I got 17/23 mostly because I just don’t know those bloody little islands in the Caribbean. I figured out how to spell Nicaragua right the first time (though when I wrote it here just now I got it wrong, it’s always those bloody u’s) and I remembered El Salvador which made me happy (I always forget about it). I did have Turks and Caicos except apparently it wasn’t on the map – I guess because it’s part of another country? ... okay, looked it up and it’s a British territory. I spent a lot of time spelling and re-spelling it which is annoying. Anyway of the six islands I missed the only one I think I could have gotten was Barbados. I’m going to need to do a lot of studying here.
- I did Europe next and was given eight minutes which seems sort of a random number but okay. I got 37/47 which is worse than I thought I’d do but then there were a couple countries there that I forgot existed so I guess not. I ended up being completely caught up on Crete – which is a part of Greece so it didn’t matter in the end – because I just could not think of the name and it was really bugging me. I’m glad I got Andorra and Monaco and Malta and Serbia but I feel like there were a couple others I should have gotten like Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Slovenia. On the other hand there was no way I was going to get Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova or San Marino. Liechtenstein kind of makes me want to cry. I know one country that I won’t be quick to use on Map Quest. Montenegro makes me think of Angela from Bones and maybe that will help me to remember it now.
- Next up was Asia which included the Middle East. In ten minutes I got 37/48 and I feel like I could have done better. I got Kuwait, Singapore and Georgia and I often forget them. I spelled Israel and Turkmenistan right which was nice. I couldn’t spell ‘emirates’ but the map accepted UAE, as well as Burma when I couldn’t remember Myanmar. Also East Timor is actually Timor-Leste officially but it accepted it. On the other hand I missed Philippines, Lebanon and Armenia which I feel like I should have gotten. Bahrain and Brunei I knew both started with B’s but couldn’t remember anything more of their names which was annoying. Also very annoying is that my lack of spelling once again got me – Kazakhstan (god damn ‘h’) and Uzbekistan (no ‘c’, also I had it placed wrong on the map). Overall I guess I didn’t do that bad.
- Then there was Australia... and a lot of little islands. When I opened that map I found myself very scared. And apparently with good reason because while it gave five minutes to complete it all I could do were Australia and New Zealand. That’s 2/14. Yikes. I had a vague idea about the other big island – New was in there and Guiana or something with a ‘g’ as well as another word but it wasn’t coming together. As far as all those little islands? Nothing. Not a clue, not even the first letter. I didn’t even feel a nagging at my mind like I’d forgotten something. It was as if I was seeing a whole new world. The big one ended up being Papua New Guinea and some of the small islands included Fiji (didn’t know that was there), Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga and Palau. But it also included The Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands and I really want a world law now where your country name cannot exceed three words. Also there was Nauru and Kiribati which I have never heard of. Clearly I need a lot of work here.
- Finally I found a world map where you were given fifteen minutes to label as much as possible which seemed perfect after doing everything in groups. Kind of like an overview. I got 138/195. I am kind of disappointed in myself. Adding up all the countries I got on the smaller maps equals 132 which means I got only six more after doing all those other maps. I was floundering a bit at the end there but I wouldn’t have gotten them all even if I’d known them because I ran out of time. I do think that how crowded the map looked with all the names threw me, as it always does, and it was hard to see what I’d missed. (Though it is better than Map Quest in that regard.) And I missed some very obvious ones at that – Venezuela, Costa Rica, Russia (!), Philippines, Jordan. I feel like I should have gotten Vatican City (I always forget that’s a country), Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Togo (missed again!), Liberia (I always know there is another ‘eria’ country but I forget how it starts), Slovenia. Once again all I could remember about Brunei was the ‘B’ part and where it was. I couldn’t spell Kazakhstan though I tried a couple times (I remembered the H but was adding in an extra A, I think), nor Liechtenstein or Luxembourg (those damn U’s always get me). I am most disappointed in my complete blank over the various islands off Australia considering the fact that I just did them. Yeesh.
• There is a long list of games on Sporcle so I did a few others:
- US states and got 27/50. I would have gotten Tennessee but spelling once again got me (it was that last ‘e’). I think I was just blanking because I missed a lot of really, really obvious ones I should have got like Kansas (!), Vermont, Arizona, Colorado, Virginia, Massachusetts (though there is no way I would have got the spelling of that one).
- Arctic Circle countries – I got them all with 22 seconds to spare (from a minute). I was thrown for a moment because there are 8 and I was forgetting Denmark (Greenland) and Iceland at first.
- Top 20 Coffee Consuming Countries Per Capita – just for fun – and I got 17/20. I missed Czech (#6), Costa Rica (#15) and Georgia (#19). The top three are Finland, Norway and Denmark, Canada is #9 and surprisingly the USA is only #16. It was basically just a guessing game and I went with Western countries with colder climates.
- Most Densely-Populated Countries – 32/50. I would have had 33 but was in the middle of writing Jamaica when time ran out.
- Landlocked Countries – 29/44. I had Luxembourg but apparently I was spelling it wrong. I missed Azerbaijan, Botswana, Burkino Faso, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kosovo, Kygyzstan, Malawi, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Vatican City (seriously, I always forget about it), Zambia and Zimbabwe.
- Countries that Border Russia – 12/14, I missed Azerbaijan and Norway. I didn’t realise that Norway bordered Russia.
- 3-Letter Combinations That End Multiple Country Names – 19/26. I missed GAL, LIC, NDS, NEA, NES, NGO, RUS.
- 3-Letter Combinations That Start Multiple Country Names – 16/22. I missed BUR, CAM, DOM, GRE, GUI, SAI.
- Countries That Share the World’s Longest Borders (by land) – 15/30. I missed # 5, 9, 13, 14 (this was Afghanistan/Pakistan which I did do but obviously spelled wrong), 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28. I could have gotten more, by the end there I was just putting together countries who shared borders and some of them I would have gotten around to by process of elimination. Like Brazil/Venezuela and Venezuela/Colombia (I was doing South America when time ran out.)
- Winter Olympic Hosts – 8/10. Pretty much guessing – I missed Norway and Yugoslavia (which I never would have gotten).
- Countries with the Highest Pig Populations – 22/30. I missed Mexico, Russia, Philippines, Ukraine, Thailand, Taiwan (... really?), Nigeria (I did everything around Nigeria), Serbia & Montenegro (uh, aren’t those two different countries?)
- Countries That Produce the Most Wine – 13/15 (I missed China and Portugal).
- Countries with a Larger Population Than any they Share a Border With – 15/18. I missed Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Dominican Republic.
- Countries That Only Share a Border With One Country – 11/17. I missed Gambia, Vatican City (damn it), Denmark, East Timor and San Marino.
• Map Quest gives a short amount of time to label as many world countries as possible. Thus far my best is down to 90 countries left to label. I really like this game but sometimes I mess up spelling and I lose a lot of time that way. It probably helps my typing though. Other problems include how small the map is and so when I label enough countries in an area I end up unable to see what I’ve already written. It could be improved is what I’m saying.
• Know Your World is a question game where you are given a location (say, Paris France) and you have to plant a flag there (by clicking a place on the map with your mouse). There’s a timer so you don’t have too long to think and it asks about capitals, other cities and important monuments. I like how it calculates the distance between your flag and where it really is to get your score. The closest I’ve gotten is 14 km. The negative about this game is that the map is so small and there is no easy way to increase the size so that some countries aren’t even visible (like Israel or Qatar, not visible on the map) and you end up having to pick basically just the general area they should be and hope for the best. Despite that this is a pretty fun game. So far my best is level 11 (score to advance 550000), with an IQ of 122 and a final score of 478, 584.
• I found a Map Label Game here where you are given an area and set number of minutes to label as much as you can. It’s actually a nice break after playing against the clock in Map Quest.
- I started off with Africa and ended up with 27/53 which sounds pretty bad but which I’m actually a little pleased about. I did better than I was expecting. In straight out labelling I got some unexpected ones – Seychelles, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Tanzania... I actually figured out how to spell Zimbabwe and Mauritania! Of course I also missed Tunisia which I had to place on a different map game not five minutes before so that’s kind of embarrassing. I forgot about Togo and Senegal which I’ve been placing on Map Quest for awhile now. There were a couple others I feel like I should have gotten (Ghana, CAR, Liberia) but also some that I never would have gotten (Djibouti, Eritrea, Sao Tome and Principe, Guinea-Bissau, Comoros, Mauritius). This was just having to know the names of the countries and if I’d have had to actually place the names/pick the right country my score would have been so much worse.
- Then I did South America. This one I was feeling confident about because I’ve really been working on South and Central America. In the end I had reason to feel confident because I had 4:15 left on a five minute clock after writing all 12 countries down. And I didn’t mess up on the spelling on any of them. I was surprised that French Guiana wasn’t included as needing to be labelled even though it’s a part of France. It’s a country on the continent regardless. Oh, well. I know it anyway. I’m very pleased with this result.
- Next up was North America, Central America and the Caribbean which were all included on the same map and given ten minutes. I got 17/23 mostly because I just don’t know those bloody little islands in the Caribbean. I figured out how to spell Nicaragua right the first time (though when I wrote it here just now I got it wrong, it’s always those bloody u’s) and I remembered El Salvador which made me happy (I always forget about it). I did have Turks and Caicos except apparently it wasn’t on the map – I guess because it’s part of another country? ... okay, looked it up and it’s a British territory. I spent a lot of time spelling and re-spelling it which is annoying. Anyway of the six islands I missed the only one I think I could have gotten was Barbados. I’m going to need to do a lot of studying here.
- I did Europe next and was given eight minutes which seems sort of a random number but okay. I got 37/47 which is worse than I thought I’d do but then there were a couple countries there that I forgot existed so I guess not. I ended up being completely caught up on Crete – which is a part of Greece so it didn’t matter in the end – because I just could not think of the name and it was really bugging me. I’m glad I got Andorra and Monaco and Malta and Serbia but I feel like there were a couple others I should have gotten like Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Slovenia. On the other hand there was no way I was going to get Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova or San Marino. Liechtenstein kind of makes me want to cry. I know one country that I won’t be quick to use on Map Quest. Montenegro makes me think of Angela from Bones and maybe that will help me to remember it now.
- Next up was Asia which included the Middle East. In ten minutes I got 37/48 and I feel like I could have done better. I got Kuwait, Singapore and Georgia and I often forget them. I spelled Israel and Turkmenistan right which was nice. I couldn’t spell ‘emirates’ but the map accepted UAE, as well as Burma when I couldn’t remember Myanmar. Also East Timor is actually Timor-Leste officially but it accepted it. On the other hand I missed Philippines, Lebanon and Armenia which I feel like I should have gotten. Bahrain and Brunei I knew both started with B’s but couldn’t remember anything more of their names which was annoying. Also very annoying is that my lack of spelling once again got me – Kazakhstan (god damn ‘h’) and Uzbekistan (no ‘c’, also I had it placed wrong on the map). Overall I guess I didn’t do that bad.
- Then there was Australia... and a lot of little islands. When I opened that map I found myself very scared. And apparently with good reason because while it gave five minutes to complete it all I could do were Australia and New Zealand. That’s 2/14. Yikes. I had a vague idea about the other big island – New was in there and Guiana or something with a ‘g’ as well as another word but it wasn’t coming together. As far as all those little islands? Nothing. Not a clue, not even the first letter. I didn’t even feel a nagging at my mind like I’d forgotten something. It was as if I was seeing a whole new world. The big one ended up being Papua New Guinea and some of the small islands included Fiji (didn’t know that was there), Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga and Palau. But it also included The Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands and I really want a world law now where your country name cannot exceed three words. Also there was Nauru and Kiribati which I have never heard of. Clearly I need a lot of work here.
- Finally I found a world map where you were given fifteen minutes to label as much as possible which seemed perfect after doing everything in groups. Kind of like an overview. I got 138/195. I am kind of disappointed in myself. Adding up all the countries I got on the smaller maps equals 132 which means I got only six more after doing all those other maps. I was floundering a bit at the end there but I wouldn’t have gotten them all even if I’d known them because I ran out of time. I do think that how crowded the map looked with all the names threw me, as it always does, and it was hard to see what I’d missed. (Though it is better than Map Quest in that regard.) And I missed some very obvious ones at that – Venezuela, Costa Rica, Russia (!), Philippines, Jordan. I feel like I should have gotten Vatican City (I always forget that’s a country), Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Togo (missed again!), Liberia (I always know there is another ‘eria’ country but I forget how it starts), Slovenia. Once again all I could remember about Brunei was the ‘B’ part and where it was. I couldn’t spell Kazakhstan though I tried a couple times (I remembered the H but was adding in an extra A, I think), nor Liechtenstein or Luxembourg (those damn U’s always get me). I am most disappointed in my complete blank over the various islands off Australia considering the fact that I just did them. Yeesh.
• There is a long list of games on Sporcle so I did a few others:
- US states and got 27/50. I would have gotten Tennessee but spelling once again got me (it was that last ‘e’). I think I was just blanking because I missed a lot of really, really obvious ones I should have got like Kansas (!), Vermont, Arizona, Colorado, Virginia, Massachusetts (though there is no way I would have got the spelling of that one).
- Arctic Circle countries – I got them all with 22 seconds to spare (from a minute). I was thrown for a moment because there are 8 and I was forgetting Denmark (Greenland) and Iceland at first.
- Top 20 Coffee Consuming Countries Per Capita – just for fun – and I got 17/20. I missed Czech (#6), Costa Rica (#15) and Georgia (#19). The top three are Finland, Norway and Denmark, Canada is #9 and surprisingly the USA is only #16. It was basically just a guessing game and I went with Western countries with colder climates.
- Most Densely-Populated Countries – 32/50. I would have had 33 but was in the middle of writing Jamaica when time ran out.
- Landlocked Countries – 29/44. I had Luxembourg but apparently I was spelling it wrong. I missed Azerbaijan, Botswana, Burkino Faso, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kosovo, Kygyzstan, Malawi, Moldova, San Marino, Tajikistan, Vatican City (seriously, I always forget about it), Zambia and Zimbabwe.
- Countries that Border Russia – 12/14, I missed Azerbaijan and Norway. I didn’t realise that Norway bordered Russia.
- 3-Letter Combinations That End Multiple Country Names – 19/26. I missed GAL, LIC, NDS, NEA, NES, NGO, RUS.
- 3-Letter Combinations That Start Multiple Country Names – 16/22. I missed BUR, CAM, DOM, GRE, GUI, SAI.
- Countries That Share the World’s Longest Borders (by land) – 15/30. I missed # 5, 9, 13, 14 (this was Afghanistan/Pakistan which I did do but obviously spelled wrong), 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28. I could have gotten more, by the end there I was just putting together countries who shared borders and some of them I would have gotten around to by process of elimination. Like Brazil/Venezuela and Venezuela/Colombia (I was doing South America when time ran out.)
- Winter Olympic Hosts – 8/10. Pretty much guessing – I missed Norway and Yugoslavia (which I never would have gotten).
- Countries with the Highest Pig Populations – 22/30. I missed Mexico, Russia, Philippines, Ukraine, Thailand, Taiwan (... really?), Nigeria (I did everything around Nigeria), Serbia & Montenegro (uh, aren’t those two different countries?)
- Countries That Produce the Most Wine – 13/15 (I missed China and Portugal).
- Countries with a Larger Population Than any they Share a Border With – 15/18. I missed Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Dominican Republic.
- Countries That Only Share a Border With One Country – 11/17. I missed Gambia, Vatican City (damn it), Denmark, East Timor and San Marino.
